Seyfried
King Seyfried is a story character in Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City. As the Abyssal King, he rules the mysterious Deep City and has sworn to eliminate the evil Deep Ones no matter the cost. Upon meeting the party, he reveals the true nature of the Yggdrasil Labyrinth and the Calamity. Olympia acts as his personal bodygaurd, messenger, and friend. Also known as the Automaton King, he's fought as the final boss of the Porcelain Wish route. Personality Despite Olympia's actions to stop any human from reaching the Deep City, Seyfried himself is polite, reasonable and willing to make compromises with the party and Armoroad for a common cause. His subjects' adoration casts him as a fair, benevolent ruler. He acts on the interest of Yggdrasil and humanity, battling the threat of the Deep Ones. He's obsessed with the Deep Ones, willing to resort to extreme measures in order to bring about their demise. Not even reuniting with his long-lost sister Gutrune is enough to make him stop, as he sees her as nothing but a monster. It's heavily hinted that both his extreme attitude towards the Deep Ones and inability to remember Gutrune or Flowdia are a product of the Yggdrasil Tree transferring his consciousness to an automaton body; whenether this is an accidental or deliberate side-effect is unknown. History Seyfried was born in pre-Calamity Armoroad as the royal prince and heir to the throne, and older brother of Princess Gutrune. After his coronation, he started communicating with Yggdrasil itself, who informed him of the Deep Ones and the impending doom they represented for humanity. He agreed to join Yggdrasil in its campaign against the Deep Ones. By his pact with Yggdrasil, Armoroad sunk to the seas (the process of which caused a great amount of disastrous side effects to the nearby ocean), an event that came to be known as the Calamity. This trapped not only the Deep Ones, but also himself and a great portion of Armoroad (to be known as the Deep City), into the depths of the sea. He agreed to have his consciousness transferred to an unaging mechanical body so that he could see his mission through to the end, but the process caused him to lose some of his memories and his personality. He established the Deep City and became its ruler and protector. The Yggdrasil Tree created other automatons, the Yggdroids, as warriors designed to kill Deep Ones; of these Yggdroids, Olympia, was specially created to serve as Seyfried's right-hand woman, modeled after Seyfried's beloved but forgotten younger sister. He ordered Olympia, his soldiers, and Oceanmaster Ketos to hide the existence of the Deep City from humanity, by whatever means necessary, as he believed that the humans left above the waves were too weak and corruptible to fight the Deep Ones by themselves. Ultimately, his followers fail, and the player's party arrives at the Deep City. Seyfried summons them to the palace and explains the nature of the labyrinth and the Deep Ones, hoping to earn their alliance, but also requests them to keep the Deep City a secret and bring a false report to Armoroad. No matter the player's actions, the secret is leaked, and Armoroad requests a truce between the cities. Seyfried begrudgingly accepts. This tense alliance breaks once the player reaches the Fourth Stratum. He gives the party an ultimatum to join him or become his enemy, as he believes that Armoroad's actions are foolish. More than that, he's somehow discovered that Princess Gutrune has been corrupted by the Deep Ones and is turning into one herself. He orders Olympia to stop anyone from going deeper into the labyrinth, including the party if they refuse to join him. Abyssal Desire As the party has proven repeatedly their skill in the labyrinth, he tasks them with hunting down Gutrune in the Fifth Stratum and eliminating her. He doesn't appear in the final battle. During the post-game, fully confident in the party's strength and loyalty, he tasks them with destroying the Abyssal God, creator of the Deep Ones and ancient enemy of Yggdrasil. He remains unable to remember Gutrune during this route. Porcelain Wish He takes it upon himself and Olympia to slay Gutrune, certain that the corrupted princess will bring ruin to Armoroad if left alive. He confronts her and the party in the last floor of the Fifth Stratum, accompanied by Olympia. Flowdia tries to plead for him to remember his sister and his past, but to no avail, and the party is forced to fight him. He loses and is killed, but before he expires, he remembers his past and asks Gutrune for forgiveness. The Yggdrasil Tree laments his death, but continues its mission against the Abyssal God, saddling the party with the duty of ending the threat to mankind once and for all. Eldest Path He takes it upon himself and Olympia to slay Gutrune, certain that the corrupted princess will bring ruin to Armoroad if left alive, just like in the Porcelain Wish path. He confronts her in the last floor of the Fifth Stratum. The party interrupts the confrontation to give the Porcelain Offering to the siblings, and although he resists, Olympia persuades him to take it. The results are not directly seen, but the offering restores his memories and sanity. After the party slays the Progenitor, Seyfried decides to leave Armoroad with his sister, as both feel that, given their past and non-human status, they no longer belong there. He leaves a final request with Olympia: the party must slay the Abyssal God. Trivia * Seyfried is a variant of the Germanic name Siegfried, which in itself is derived from the Old Norse Sigfriðr or Sigfrøðr. * Unlike Gutrune, he doesn't become human again at the end of the Eldest Path, as his original body was discarded, not transformed, when his mind was transferred to his mechanical body. Category:Etrian Odyssey III Characters